Two words: moving day.  All my life, I'd lived in the same house, with the same yard and slept in the same room, but now all that was about to change.

    "Miss, is this box to go on the truck as well?"

    "Yeah, everything in that corner goes on the truck...thanks for double checking though."

    "No problem."

    I sighed.  That was almost the last box, which meant that soon the truck would be on it's way to Nick's house in Florida.  I turned to my mom.  "You sure you want to give me up?"

    She gave me a sad smile.  "I don't have much choice; my baby's growing up and I can't stop her."

    "Oh, mom, you're gonna make me cry again...."  And the truth was, I didn't think I had any more tears left in me.  I guess I was wrong.

    So while my mom and I stood hugging and crying on the front porch, the moving truck pulled away.  Which meant that in less than 5 hours, I would be on my way to Florida as well, via airplane.  Nick would be flying with me, since it would be my first time on a plane.  Quite frankly, I was terrified.  I mean, I know all the stuff about how there are more car crashes than plane crashes, and how planes are safer than cars, but think about it: just about anything can happen when you're that high up in the air, right?  Fortunately, Nick hated flying just as much as I assumed I was going to, so at least there was someone who knew how I felt.

    Jayme and I had said good-bye the day before, because neither of us thought we could stand another day of crying.  I already missed her like crazy.  I honestly didn't think I would be able to make it without her, but Nick had given me a bit of a pep talk yesterday when we were packing.

    "I do know kind of how you feel, you know.  Every time we go on tour, I leave my family for long periods of time and I miss them just as much as you'll miss Jayme.  But it's going to be ok."

    I groaned softly.  "I know, and I realize that you go through this sort of thing too.  I'll get over it.  As long as you love me, I'll be ok."  I smirked at him.

    "You've got such a smart mouth, you know that?!"  But he smiled and kissed me anyway.  "Just remember that I'm always here for you."

    So all in all, I had some pretty jumbled up feelings.  But I was going to have to get it together, because in a very short while I'd be boarding a plane to Florida, and there'd be no turning back.
 

    ***A few hours later***

    "Last call for Flight 233 to Orlando.  All passengers please report to gate 12."

    "Well, this is it.  That's our flight."

    My mom's eyes welled up with tears.  "I can't believe I'm saying good-bye to my baby....you make sure you take good care of her, Nick."

    "I promise I will, Mrs. McKinley.  And don't worry, I'll make sure she keeps in touch with you."

    My parents smiled.  I looked over at my brother.  "Good-bye Shane.  I'll miss you."  Solemnly he nodded and gave me a hug.  I turned to my parents.  "I'll miss you guys too," I sniffled "and I'll be thinking about you."

    Our family has never liked good-bye's, so they're all short and sweet.  With that said, Nick and I headed over to gate 12, him with a baseball cap pulled down over his face, so no one would recognize him.  That was the last thing we needed today.

    But it was also the most likely thing to happen.  And so it did.  A girl of around 15 years old came up to us just as we neared the gate and inquired "Are you Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys?!"  Nick glanced at me and then back at the girl.  Politely, he answered, "Yes, I am.  And believe me, if I could I'd stay and talk to you for a couple of minutes, but we're about to miss our flight.  So here", he handed her a pen out of his pocket, "I know it's not much, but you can have it.  I'm sorry I couldn't stay and talk to you."  And that was it.  So simple, just like that.  But it was that simple gesture that had me gawking at him, and once again making me realize how incredibly lucky I was.  I squeezed his hand, and whispered "I love you."

    He looked back at me with tears in his eyes.  "I love you too...I just wish I could admit it to the rest of the world."

    I gave him a reassuring smile and replied "Take your time.  As long as I know, that's all that matters to me."

    He squeezed my hand in return, and we walked up to the gate.  We handed the woman our boarding passes, and headed onto the plane.

    Two minutes into the flight, I felt like puking.

    "Ooooooh....." I moaned, leaning against Nick.  We were in our seats now, and I was holding the "Barf Bag" up to my mouth.  Nick kissed my forehead and commented "Nothing says romance like air sickness."

    I laughed and immediately wished I hadn't.  I'll spare you the gory details, but I'm sure you get the picture.

    After about a half an hour, I felt much better.  Nick had gotten me a ginger ale from the stewardess, and it had calmed my stomach considerably.  I wasn't exactly enjoying the flight now, but at least I wasn't sick anymore.

    The featured movie was ‘Dr. Doolittle'.  I'd seen it already, but Nick hadn't, so we both watched it.  He thought it was hilarious.  Nothing like a little Eddie Murphy to keep your mind off the plane ride I guess.

    As bad as I thought the flight was, I figured I'd better get used to it.  From now on, I was going to be taking a lot of these type of trips, whether I liked it or not.  And besides, was that the pilot announcing that we were arriving in Tampa already?  Sure enough, I looked out the window and saw that we'd dropped altitude already.  I buckled up my seatbelt and turned to Nick.  "It went faster than I thought it would."

    "It usually does," he replied, "but I still don't like it!"

    I laughed, and suddenly felt queasy again.  This time, though, Nick was ready for it.  He started rubbing my stomach, and gave me little sips of ginger ale.  Amazingly, it worked.

    But I still had another hurdle to cross.

    "Are you ready to meet my family?"

    I gulped and nodded yes.  But why did I feel so nervous?

 Chapter Eleven
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